Ngā Rangahautira x Indigenous Law and Justice Hub in Naarm

Nā Kaea Hudson (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Awa, Tūhoe) 

From the 18th-24th of September, Ngā Rangahautira took a delegation of senior Māori law students to visit the Indigenous Law and Justice Hub at Melbourne Law School. 

In December 2024 Ngā Rangahautira hosted a group of academic staff and students from the Indigenous Law and Justice Hub (“the Hub”) at Melbourne Law School. We shared a kai of hāngī and had the opportunity to kōrero about indigenous law and culture here in Aotearoa (we even convinced some of them to attend the opening of the Living Pā!!). Following that and other meetings, we thought it was about time that we returned the favour, built on those connections, and made a trip over the ditch. 

Our first day began with a visit to the Hub for introductions. We were taken on Billibellary’s Walk around UniMelb, where we discussed the indigenous and colonial history of buildings around the campus to help situate us in people and place. We were lucky enough to get a peek at the 65,000 Years exhibition at the university’s art gallery, which collected work from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists around the country. We finished the day with a Welcome to Country from Wurundjeri traditional owners alongside members of Tarwirri (the Victoria Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal professionals group). 

Tuesday was a day of learning with lectures in the Hub on Australian constitutional arrangements, Land Rights and the ongoing Victoria Treaty Process. We attended part of a conference on decolonising higher education and supported Ngā Rangahautira members who presented on the Te Rauhī i te Tikanga—A Tikanga Companion research project with VUW Māori law lecturer and legal academic Māmari Stephens. We finished the night with another visit to the art gallery for the opening of the 65,000 Years exhibition. 

On Wednesday we went out to Preston to visit the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS), and got to hear first hand from lawyers, policy makers and community workers about their key work. In the afternoon we visited the Treaty Authority - the independent body that oversees Treaty-making in Victoria. One of my highlights from this trip was participating in a cleansing/clearing ceremony, and adding to their timeline of significant moments in Australian and international indigenous history. I added a cheeky post-it about the legal personhood of Te Urewera—a measure that has been replicated in Australia with the legal personhood of the Birrarung (Yarra River). 

Thursday we started in the Hub and heard from the Director of the First Nations Justice team at the Human Rights Law Centre. After that we caught the tram to the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria—the representative body of Treaty for Victoria. That night we heard from a panel about Dreaming on Indigenous Legal Education including from our own Dr Carywn Jones. It was so interesting to hear everyone’s thoughts on indigenising legal education—and sing them a waiata too! 

On the final day we spent the afternoon with our whānau from across the Moana Nui-ā-Kiwa. The afternoon began with presentations from Pasifika academics at the Oceania Institute about Pese Sāmoa and Pacific climate lawyering at the International Court of Justice. We ended with a kava and talanoa session at Te M’aneaba with the UniMelb Pacific Islands Students Association. We shared kōrero and brought our guitar to share some waiata too. To close our programme we performed a bracket for the team at the Hub who looked after us during the week, to share our thanks and conclude on a high note. 

This trip presented an invaluable opportunity to learn and share in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander law and culture at the Melbourne Law School and wider Victoria area. Following the 2023 Voice to Parliament and Treaty for Victoria, indigenous rights are coming to the forefront of the Victorian social conscience. I know that we will forever treasure the time we spent in Naarm and the people we met who facilitated our learning journey.